DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “and the second heat pipe is provided on the first surface of the substrate” found in at least claim 8, the “wherein the oscillating heat pipe comprises two or more evaporator portions” found in at least claims 10 and 11, the “second evaporator portion” found in at least claim 11, the “plurality of different working fluids” found in at least claim 12, the “one or more electrical connections between at least one electronic circuitry component and at least one photonic component” found in at least claim 13, must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-6, and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Li et al. (US 2010/0315787 A1).
Re. claim 1: Li discloses an apparatus comprising:
a substrate (120) comprising a first surface (top surface) and a second surface (bottom surface); (see fig. 1A; para. 0020-0023)
at least a first component (first 104B) and a second component (second 104B) each mounted on the first surface of the substrate; (see fig. 1A; para. 0017, 0023)
a plurality of heat transfer means (130) extending through the substrate from the first surface to the second surface; (see fig. 1; para. 0023-0026)
at least part of at least one heat pipe (304) provided on the second surface of the substrate and thermally connected (through 302) to the plurality of heat transfer means; and (see fig. 3; para. 0032-0034)
at least one temperature control means (104A, 308) configured to control temperature of at least one of the components. (see fig. 1, 3, 9; para. 0034-0037, 0049-0051)
Re. claim 2: Li discloses wherein the at least one temperature control means (104A, 308) comprises at least one of the following:
at least one thermoelectric cooler or at least one heater (104A) within the second component. (see fig. 1, 3, 9; para. 0034-0037, 0049-0051)
Re. claim. 3: Li discloses wherein the thermoelectric cooler is mounted on the first surface of the substrate. (the “thermoelectric cooler” limitation is optional because of “or” language from claim 2 and was not chosen)
Re. claim 4: Li discloses wherein the thermoelectric cooler is mounted within a cavity of the substrate. (the “thermoelectric cooler” limitation is optional because of “or” language from claim 2 and was not chosen)
Re. claim 5: Li discloses wherein the thermoelectric cooler is configured to reject heat into the at least one heat pipe. (the “thermoelectric cooler” limitation is optional because of “or” language from claim 2 and was not chosen)
Re. claim 6: Li discloses wherein the plurality of heat transfer means comprises thermal vias (130). (see fig. 1; para. 0023-0026)
Re. claim 15: Li discloses an electronic device (100) comprising one or more apparatus as claimed in claim 1. (see fig. 1; para. 0017-0020)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 7, 9, 10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US 2022/0053634 A1).
Re. claim 7: Li fails to disclose:
wherein the plurality of heat transfer means comprises portions of the at least one heat pipe embedded within the substrate.
However, Zhou discloses:
wherein the plurality of heat transfer means comprises portions of the at least one heat pipe (122) embedded within the substrate (110). (see fig. 1, 2; para. 0046-0053)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide a heat transfer means of at least one oscillating heat pipe embedded within the substrate of Li as taught by Zhou. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to electrically insulate the heat pipe. (Zhou para. 0005)
Re. claims 9-10, and 12: Li fails to disclose:
wherein the at least one heat pipe comprises at least one oscillating heat pipe.
wherein the oscillating heat pipe comprises two or more evaporator portions.
wherein the oscillating heat pipe comprises a plurality of different working fluids.
However, Zhou discloses:
wherein the at least one heat pipe (122) comprises at least one oscillating heat pipe; (see fig. 1, 2; para. 0028-0029)
wherein the oscillating heat pipe comprises two or more evaporator portions (under 2 device stacks 130). (see fig. 1, 3; para. 0035, 0046, 0053)
wherein the oscillating heat pipe comprises a plurality of different working fluids (water, an alcohol, a ketone, a refrigerant). (see para. 0058-0059)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide Li with the oscillating heat pipes and two device stacks taught by Zhou. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to provide more efficient and effective heat transfer. (Zhou para. 0033)
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li and Zhou as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Refai-Ahmed et al. (US 2012/0098119 A1).
Re. claim 11: Li and Zhou fail to disclose:
wherein the apparatus is configured so that at least one electronic circuitry component rejects heat into an evaporator portion of the oscillating heat pipe and at least one photonic component rejects heat into a second evaporator portion of the oscillating heat pipe.
However, Refai-Ahmed discloses:
wherein the apparatus is configured so that at least one electronic circuitry component (10 with semiconductor 15) rejects heat into an evaporator portion of the oscillating heat pipe and at least one photonic component (second 10 with optical component second 15) rejects heat into a second evaporator portion of the oscillating heat pipe. (see fig. 1-4; para. 0024-0026)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the apparatus of Li and Zhou with at least one photonic component taught by Refai-Ahmed to reject heat into a second portion of the oscillating heat pipe of Zhou. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to increase the thermal contact of the heat producing components in the device. (Refai-Ahmed para. 0012, 0025)
Claim(s) 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Refai-Ahmed.
Re. claims 13-14: Li discloses:
one or more electrical connections between at least one electronic circuitry component (first 104B)
Li fails to disclose:
at least one photonic component wherein the one or more electrical connections are provided on the substrate; the second component comprises a photonic component.
Refai-Ahmed discloses:
at least one photonic component (15) wherein the one or more electrical connections (70) are provided on the substrate (20); the second component comprises a photonic component. (see fig. 1, 2; para. 0024-0028)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the apparatus of Li with at least one photonic component taught by Refai-Ahmed to connect it to the substrate of Li. One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to do this in order to increase the thermal contact of the heat producing components in the device. (Refai-Ahmed para. 0012, 0025)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 8 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Re. claim 8: the limitations of “a first heat pipe and a second heat pipe where the first heat pipe is provided on the second surface of the substrate and thermally connected to the plurality of heat transfer means and the second heat pipe is provided on the first surface of the substrate and thermally connected to at least one of at least one electronic circuitry component” in combination with the remaining limitations in the claim cannot be found in the prior art. One of ordinary skill in the art would not have been motivated to place a heat pipe on both a first surface and a second surface of the substrate. Providing two heat pipes on opposite surfaces and connected to the electronic circuitry component would not have provided much benefit of additional heat transfer but would have increased the size and complexity of the device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Mullen et al. (US 2006/0006525 A1) discloses a circuit board with thermal vias to transfer heat from a semiconductor. Hsieh et al. (US 2014/0015106 A1) discloses a semiconductor package with heat pipe heat dissipation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADAM B DRAVININKAS whose telephone number is (571)270-1353. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9a-6p MT.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JAYPRAKASH (JP) N GANDHI can be reached at 571-272-3740. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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July 11, 2026
/ADAM B DRAVININKAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2841
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